HTML5 and JavaScript Game Development Competition in just 13 kB

What is js13kGames?

Js13kGames is a JavaScript coding competition for HTML5 game developers. The fun part of the compo is the file size limit set to 13 kilobytes. Theme for 2014 is The Elements: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. The competition started at 13:00 CEST, 13th August and ended at 13:00 CEST, 13th September 2014. The winners have been announced on September 20th 2014. Read the Tuts+ Gamedev introductory article and see the Rules for details, good luck and have fun!

Hi, I'm Andrzej

I'm running this competition on my own in my free time. I acquired prizes worth around 18.000 USD and did get support from the sponsors, but depending on the number of submitted games I might not be able to send the usual js13k t-shirts which I secretly did for the winners of 2012 and for all in 2013. If you want to help me sponsor the t-shirts and 3.5" diskettes with the 2014 games for all of the participants, please send a few bucks via the PayPal button below, thank you!

Robbert van Os

I am your friendly neighbourhood game developer evangelist from Spil Games. My goal is to build communities around writing the best games possible, and providing the tools and knowledge to do so. Based in Europe, I’m the founder of html5united.com and active in the global games industry for over 12 years.

Jason Weathersby

Jason Weathersby is a Technical Evangelist for Mozilla, evangelizing Firefox OS. He is also a committer on the BIRT project at the Eclipse Foundation. He is a proponent of HTML5, Open Source and all things related to web-based gaming.

Robert Podgórski

Michael Wales

Michael Wales is the Web Dev Curriculum Manager at Udacity, building courses with industry partners like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Before joining Udacity, he developed web applications for the US Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.

Prizes for every participant

Games: The Few, McPixel, QbQbQb

Rules

Package size below 13 kB

All your code and game assets should be smaller than or equal to 13 kilobytes (that's exactly 13,312 bytes, because of 13 x 1024) when zipped. Your package should contain index.html file and when unzipped should work in the browser.

Two sources - readable and compressed

The competition is focusing on the package size, but learning from others is also very important. Please provide two sources of your game - first one should be minified and zipped to fit in the 13 kB limit (sent via the form) and the second one should be in a readable form with descriptive variable names and comments (hosted on GitHub).

No external libraries or services

You can't use any libraries, images or data files hosted on server or services that provide any type of data (for example Google Fonts are not allowed). Your game should work offline (Desktop and Mobile categories, not applicable to Server) and all the game assets should fit in the package(s) size limit. If you manage to shrink your favorite library below 13 kilobytes including the code itself, then you can use whatever you want, just remember about the 13 kB limit.

Main theme - The Elements: Earth, Water, Air and Fire

The main theme of the competition in 2014 is The Elements: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. It is optional, so you can use it, use part of it (one Element), or drop it. Remember that there will be bonus points for implementing the theme in your game.

Deadline - 13th September 2014

The competition starts at 13:00 CEST, 13th August 2014 and ends at 13:00 CEST, 13th September 2014. No submissions will be accepted after the end of the competition.

Licensing

You have to have the rights for every asset used in your game. Remember that the submitted games will be published and made available for everybody to see.

New content only

Do not submit any old games or demos - you have a whole month to work on something new and fresh, this should be more than enough.

Errors and browser support

Your game must work in at least one browser. The more supported browsers, the better - you can get more points for that. There should be no errors - you can lose some points if your game is showing any errors in the console. If we cannot play your game, it won't be accepted. You'll get extra points if your game supports any mobile devices.

Teams

It doesn't matter if you're working alone or with your friends, just remember that the number of prizes is fixed, so you'll have to share your trophies with your teammates.

Sending submissions

There will be a special form to submit your game. Please remember that you have to provide two sources (see the Rule #2 for details) - a link to a public repository on Github and a zipped package. Participants are allowed to submit more than one game in the competition.

Accepting submissions

Submissions will be checked manually and published after positive verification. This may take up to a couple of days, so be patient if your game is not yet online. I claim the right to reject any submission without giving a reason, although I hope I don't have to. I also have the right to update the rules of the competition at any time.

This is not a hacking competition. This is a way to help the competition admins, the site persistence, and you. Trying to directly write files, to read files outside of your package, to use not allowed modules, to change the server port, or any other tries to leak the sandbox will cast you out of the competition.

Yes, you can persist some data

The sandbox has a global function "db(key[,value])". That can abstract the read/write json data from the disk for you.

Socket.io client lib

You can use it. Simply add <script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script> to your HTML and that will be loaded. No server configuration will be needed. The sandbox already did it.

Respect your neighbours

Besides the fact that you can be cast out if you deliberately affect another game by accessing files or it's server, you also have to try to not plunder the host computing resources. That is also needed to preserve the server health.

Is there any example? How do I develop my game using the sandbox server?

Read the how to and the example to learn more. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why exactly 13 kB?

Well... why not? :)

What's in it for you? Are you getting paid?

Nope, it's just my own idea and it's made for pure fun. I'd love to get a sponsorship though as I spent my own private money on the first edition to cover shipping of the prizes worldwide, making t-shirts etc.

What does the "zipped" term exactly mean?

Sent package should be zipped with your usual system archiver, the only allowed extension is .zip. Let's keep it simple - it's a competition for coders and this should be your main focus, the code itself. Thanks to the zipped archive you will easily send your game and we will easily check the file size.

Can I use Flash?

No, you can code your game using only the open web technologies like JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

Can I use WebGL?

Yes, though it might be hard to fit it into 13 kilobytes if you plan on doing an FPS game.

Can I use CoffeeScript or TypeScript?

Yes, you can use it, but you can't submit it. Only pure JavaScript code will be accepted, so remember to have your compiled code within the 13 kB limit.

Can I use compression through the self-extracting PNGs?

No, this technique is strictly prohibited. Only pure JavaScript minifying is allowed.

Contact

If You have any questions or propositions please feel free to contact us via e-mail: contact@js13kgames.com.The other options include visiting our profiles on Twitter or Facebook and sending us the private message.